French elections

Le Pen Gains on Macron, Still to Lose Presidential Runoff

In the first round, Le Pen is set to win 24.5 percent of votes and Macron is expected to come in second with 23.5 percent, after losing 0.5 percentage points to far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Melenchon is anticipated to come in fourth with 17 percent, trailing conservative Francois Fillon, who will secure 18.5 percent of votes. They are both likely to be eliminated after the first round.

French voters will cast their ballots in the presidential election on April 23. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes, they will return to the polling boxes to choose between two frontrunners on May 7.